14. Alek #4
It’s not until I’m halfway between Tessari and the city the Carvels call their own that I start to see signs of something going awry.
I spot Tommy’s car by the side of the road and immediately inhale in anticipation.
I spot the empty driver’s seat, and it doesn’t make me feel any better than if he’d been sitting dead in it.
I keep driving until I reach the side of an alleyway that leads to a dead end with a chain-link fence. It’s dark save for the yellowing light that shines down from the street lamp several feet away from its entrance.
It’s halfway into the alley that I see it. Two dark clothed figures dragging a body toward a metal door in the side of one of the adjacent buildings. Without hesitation, I hop out of my car—not even turning the engine off—and rush into the alley.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I growl. I’m not sure at first that it’s Tommy, and perhaps if it’s someone else, I should mind my business, but I don’t care. I can’t take the risk.
“Trevor?” one of the voices asks.
I immediately recognize it as one of the Carvels. Jason.
I swallow thickly.
“Hey man! We’re just taking care of one of the Dresvannis, what the hell are you doin’ out here?” he asks me.
My gaze flicks down to the man they’re dragging by the arms.
Tommy. I see his face all bruised and bloody. Crimson drips down his hairline and over his nose. A crack in his lip, and a cut on his cheek bone.
I should handle this carefully. I should convince them that I can take care of the body myself, that they can go back and tell everyone that Tommaso Dresvanni is no longer a problem.
Unfortunately, the sudden fury in my chest and head doesn’t let me.
“You bastards,” I spit out in my natural accent. I remove the distance between me and Jason and grab him by the front of his shirt.
He looks at me with shock and confusion. I can smell the alcohol on him, but even more than that I can smell the blood. Tommy’s blood.
This sets me off even more.
“What?” he asks, and I feel another hand on my shoulder.
Raymond.
I immediately rip myself away from his hold and pull Jason closer to me. “You messed with the wrong man tonight,” I hiss at him.
With one fell swoop I toss Jason to the side and away from Tommy. He lets his arm go out of instinct and stumbles several feet to the side. Ray lets Tommy go to reach for his gun, but I’m quicker.
I pull my gun out and point it directly at Raymond.
“You don’t have to—” he starts, but it’s too late. I’ve pulled the trigger and sent a bullet straight into his head.
Blood splatters outward, and his eyes glaze over in a second.
“Holy shit,” Jason says, and then I hear his boots hitting the wet ground.
My fists are trembling as I turn around to see him running the opposite direction. I walk quickly after him, taller and therefore faster than him. My strides making up half the distance.
“You’re not going anywhere.” I reach for the back of his shirt and pull him backwards until he hits the brick wall to the right of us. I slam the gun and the side of my hand against his face.
He looks stunned, like he still hasn’t quite figured out why I’m here, what he did wrong. I’ll help him connect the dots.
“You touched him and now you’re going to pay for it, you understand me?” I tell him, wanting him to know exactly why I’m going to kill him. The reason why Raymond is lying in a pool of his own blood on the asphalt.
“You’d really protect one of them?” Jason asks me breathless, fighting with me, his hands on my shoulders.
I growl and toss my head in his direction, knocking my forehead against his hard.
“You don’t get it, do you?” I ask him, but I don’t care for his answer.
I punch him again, and again, and a third time as he’s squirming and struggling to get away from me.
I watch the blood start to run down from his nose over his lips and the bruising start to form.
I listen to him gasp for air and beg me to stop between breaths.
“You? You are nothing.” I spit on his face. “You are a maggot in a rotting bowl of shit that no one wants, no one cares about.”
I press my gun under his chin and he puts his hands up, trying to plead for his life. His eyes dart round, looking for something, anything to help him, but we’re all alone.
“What is he?” Jason asks, his voice strained. “What is that useless fucker to you, Trevor. If that’s even your real name.”
I press the gun tighter to his jawline and his body stiffens into rock.
“Everything.”
I pull the trigger. Blood and brain matter explode out of the top of his head and rain down on me. I can taste and smell his death in the air. It soils my sweater and gets caught in my hair.
The second his body slides down the hall and hits the ground, I turn around and head over to Tommy’s body on the ground. I drop to my knees and place my fingers on the side of his neck.
His face is battered and bruised. He's covered in blood, but not all of it may be his blood. I noticed the two men I killed were already a bit beat up. So, he didn’t go down without a fight.
My heart squeezes in my chest as I look at him lying here unconscious.
I take a breath and try to focus on feeling his pulse instead of my own racing one. I push my fingers harder against his veins...
He’s alive.